Rail carrier for highway van



A. K. HOLMBERG RAIL CARRIER. FOR HIGHWAY VAN Jun; 3, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Jan. 15, 1954 INVENTOR Wi /4m. ,MM W

- I ATTORNEYS June 3, 1958 HOLMBERG 2,837,037

RAIL CARRIER FOR HIGHWAY VAN Filed Jan. 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 VIZ/lINVENTOR 4 7% wa/zfzww M $4M r [0M ATTORNEYS June 3, 1958 A. K. HOLMBERGRAIL CARRIER FOR HIGHWAY VAN 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 15, 1954INVENTOR awklzum BY Mm; M 17M mm ATTORNEYS United States Patent Of'iceRAIL CARRIER FOR HKQHWAY VAN Aaron K. Holmberg, Eau Claire, Wis.

Application January 15, 1954, Serial No. 404,281

11 Claims. (Cl. Ills-362i) This invention relates to the transporting byrail of highway vehicles and is more particularly concerned with a novelrailway car especially designed and adapted to receive and support oneor more semi-trailers or highway vans in order that the same may bemoved from place to place by rail rather than by highway.

It has already been broadly proposed to employ for the transporting offreight a combined highway-railway vehicle in which a semi-trailer orvan is mounted for transit by rail upon a rail vehicle while beingremovable therefrom for conventional highway transit by means of a motortractor. This arrangement offers many advantages in the conveyance offreight, combining the best features of railway transportation, such ashigh speed, low cost, bulk shipment, with the best features of highwaytransportation, such as door-to-door pick-up and delivery withoutreloading and efiicient handling of less than carload lots, without thedisadvantages inherent in either system alone. In spite of the fact thatthis combined mode of operation could very well be the solution to manyif not all of the problems facing both the highway and railway freightindustries, up to the present time neither of these industries hasdisplayed any inclination toward putting such mode of operation intoeffect, although the basic teachings of its desirability have beenavailable to the art for a longperiod of time. The reluctance on thepart of the railway and trucking industries to adopt such a potentiallyuseful idea is diflicult to explain unless it be due to the somewhatunrealistic approach which prior workers in the field have given theproblem. In virtually all cases, these prior workers have contemplatedthat the semi-trailer or van should function literally as the body ofthe combined railway vehicle, being pivotally connected at both ends toa railway car truck and supported above the tracks thereby.Consequently, the chassis of the van served as the sole draft connectionbetween trucks and, of necessity, was required to bear the entire loadof subsequent combination vehicles when a plurality of the units werearranged in a train. The usual highway rig comprises only a singletractor'and van and, as the horizontal loads, either in tension orcompression, to which a van is subjected are not extreme, conventionalvans are neither designed nor constructed to withstand loads evenapproaching those of the magnitude which would be encountered wherelarge numbers of combination vehicles are connected .in series.Obviously then, vans which were to be used in the manner suggested bythe prior art must needs be of especially sturdy and massiveconstruction which characteristics in themselves would render the vanless suitable for use on the highways where deadweight should be at aminimum. It is small wonder therefore that the trucking industry lookedwith little favor upon proposals which their standard equipment would beworthless.

In similar fashion, the railway car trucks which were to be employed inassociation with the vans were unique in many respects, such as torequire rather radical modi- 2,837,037, Patented June 3, 1958 2 ficationof existing car trucks, and thus-modified truck would find littleutility apart from the hauling of vans. Thus, the basis for therailroads disinclination toward previous suggestions along this line isreadily apparent.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a railwayvehicle for transporting semi-trailers or vans in which the horizontalload is borne by the rail vehicle itself rather than by the van.

Another object of the invention is to provide a railway carrier forhighway vans of conventional design which is simple both in the designand construction and which contemplates the maximum use of conventionalrailway equipment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail carrier forhighway vans which while being especially adapted for such use isnevertheless not specifically limited thereto but is capable of utilityin other applications.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a rail carrier forhighway vans which can be swiftly and easily loaded and unloaded withoutthe assistance of additional special equipment.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following detailed description of illustrativeembodiments thereof, when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved van carrier, showing indotted lines the van in transporting position and in dot-dash lines theplatform of the carrier in loading and unloading position;

Figure 2 is a plan view looking down on Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the platform, showing thedetails of the automatic coupling means carried by one of the car trucksand the cooperating means carried by the platform; I

Figure 4 is a view in cross-section along line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged view in perspective of the portion of theplatform included in Figure 3, showing the details of the platformcooperating means alone;

Figure 6 is an enlarged view in perspective of a portion of the edge ofthe platform, showing in association with the platform elevating meansfor raising and lowering the platform from loading and unloadingposition to and from coupling position.

Figure 7 is a view looking at the inner end of the front car truck withthe platform disengaged therefrom, showing the operating mechanism forthe automatic coupling means;

Figure 8 is a side elevation of a modified form of the invention for usein transporting a duality of vans; and

Figure 9 is a plan view looking down on Figure 8.

in general terms, the novel van carrier constructedin accordance withthe present invention comprises at least two railway car trucks and aplatform supported a slight distance above the rail tracks for movementtherealong by means of these trucks, the platform functioning as thesole draft connection therebetween. Carried by one truck are automaticcoupling means which are engageable with cooperating means provided onone end of the platform, one element of the coupling means being aprojection having an upper inclined surface for guiding the cooperatingmeans into coupling relationship. Upon disengagement of the coupling andcooperating means, the platform is adapted to be lowered at one endthereof .by jack means to loading and unloading position and, uponcompletion of loading or unloading, to be re-elevated to couplingposition.

Turning now to a detailed description of the invention, in Figure l thenumeral 11 and 11' generally designate a pair of railway car trucksadapted for rolling movement otherwise permanently aflixed thereto.

3 along a pair of spaced parallel tracks 13. As is well known, thetrucks comprise the usual side frames and 15', wheels 17 and 17', andaxles, bolster, braking elements, compressed air conduits andconnections, etc., all notshown. Mounted onthe trucks by means of aconventional bolster, center plate, and center pin connection, notshown, are horizontal decks 19 and 19 which are provided at their outerends with conventional coupling member 21 and 21' and at their innerends with vertical frames or frameworks 23 and 23, extending downwardlyfrom and transversely of the deck but terminating short of the top ofthe rails 13. If desired, the vertical frameworks 23 and 23' may bebraced against loads normal thereto by means of suitable bracing members25 and 25'.

One of the trucks, preferably that which appears to the left in Figure land indicated by the numeral 11, being termed the front truck forpurposes of convenience, is supplied with a fifth wheel 27 mountedcentrally on the deck near the vertical framework 23. The fifth wheelmay be of the type ordinarily employed in coupling highway vans to motortractors, consisting of a pedestal member 29 fixedly secured to the deck19 and a slightly inclined plate member 31 having a rearwardly directedtapering slot 33 therein for the reception of a kingpin or male couplingmember 35 carried beneath the forward end of the van. As is well known,locking means of any desired design, not shown, form a part of the fifthwheel for retaining the kingpin in coupled relationship.

Mounted on the lower ends of framework 23 on front truck 11, adjacentthe outer sides thereof, are a pair of automatic couplers'37 which aregenerally identical to the standard railroad coupler with the exceptionof several external modifications by which they are rendered especiallyadapted for use in the present invention. Contrary to the usual practiceof mounting couplers on railway cars in which the knuckle is either atthe one side or the other of the coupler with the knuckle axis extendingvertically, the present couplers 37 are rotated 90 about theirlongitudinal axis to place the knuckle 39 at the top with the knuckleaxis extending horizontally, the guard arm being at the bottom of thecoupler, as can be seen in Figure 4.

In addition, the guard arm 41 is extended two or three times its normallength, the upper face 42 of the arm forming an inclined surface leadingup to the body of coupler. The purpose of these modifications willappear hereinafter.

By virtue of the rotation of the couplers 90 from their ordinaryposition, special operating means are required and to this end, as canbe seen in Figure 7, the lock lifter arm of the coupler, arranged eitherfor what is usually termed top or bottom operation as the case may be,is extended exteriorly of the body of coupler 37, as at 45, and isprovided at its free end with a disc 47 welded or A compression spring49, encircles the exterior portion 45 of the lock lifter arm, hearing atone end against the inner face of coupler body 37, the lifter lever thusbeing normally biased to locking position. Pivotally mounted onframework 23 is a bell crank lever 51, having the end of its short armbearing against the outer face of the disc and its long arm connected bymeans of a cable 53, passing around a pulley 55, to an arm 57 carried byan operating shaft 59. The operating shaft 59 extends the full width offramework 23, being secured for rocking movement thereto by means ofbrackets 61, and has an operating handle 63 at both ends thereof. Itwill thus be apparent that uncoupling can be accomplished from eitherside of' the carrier by merely rocking the shaft 61 about its axis whichcauses the lock lifter arms to move outwardly, disengaging the lockingmechanism inside the coupler and actuating the knuckle thrower to swingthe knuckle 39 about its axis to open position. The friction between thesurfaces of themoving parts inside the coupler head 37 as increased bythe presence of spring 49 will normally disc 47 and at the other againstthe external surface of the be great enough to maintain the knuckle inopen position once that position has been achieved; however, any of thewell known devices for locking a knuckle in open position may beutilized, if thought desirable.

The vertical framework 23' carried by the rear car truck, designated11', has fixedly connected to the lower end thereof a platform generallyindicated by the numeral 71 which is adapted to support a van 72 (shownin broken lines in Figures 1 and 2), the platform extendinglongitudinally of the rails 13 toward the front car 11, being of a widthcomparable to a conventional flat car and of a length corresponding tothe major portion of the van exclusive of the end portions thereof whichoverlap or project over the deck portions 19 and 19. The construction ofplatform 71 may be widely varied; for example, it may consist of aspaced pair of side rails 73 in the form of steel or cast iron I-beamsarranged with the web vertically and secured at one end, as by weldingor riveting, to the side elements of the framework 23 with a floor ofheavy boards or planks 75 disposed edge to edge transversely of siderails 73 and secured thereto by bolts or other common fastening means.The wooden floor can be replaced by metal plates if this is consideredadvantageous but, in any event, it is preferred that side rails of somecharacter be utilized to prevent the van from accidentally shifting offthe platform, the rails being disposed as low with respect to the flooras is feasible in order that they will interfere as little as possiblewith loading and unloading of the platform.

The end of the platform 71 remote from rear car truck 11' is providedwith cooperating means for engaging in coupling fashion with theautomatic couplers 37 carried by the frame 23 of front car truck 11. Toform this coupling means, as can be best seen in detail in Figures 3-5,a rod 77 of very heavy round stock is fastened across the end of floor75 by means of several heavy metal straps 79 and the edge of the lastplank in the floor, that is, the plank adjacent to the rod 77 is cutaway to provide several rectangular openings 81, bounded on one side byrod 77, the openings corresponding-in number to the number of thecouplers 37 carried by the front car truck 11 and being in longitudinalalignment with such couplers. The depth or longitudinal extent of theopenings 81 is such as to permit the knuckle 39 of the couplers 37topass freely into and out of the same. The size and stress bearingcharacteristics of the round stock from which rod 77 is made and thenumber and gauge of sheet metal. straps 79 are so selected that theseelements will be capable of withstanding any load to which they may besubjected during the course of transporting a train of the vehicles ofthe present invention cross country. It will be noted that by virtue ofthe extended guard arm 41 on the coupler 37, it is not necessary thatthe cooperating means at the end of platform 71 be precisely positionedprior to coupling with the couplers 37 since the rod 77 will becontacted by the inclined upper face 42 of arm 41 and moved into propercoupling relationship even though the rod might be several inches lowerthan what would otherwise be the required position for coupling.

While the specific coupling arrangement illustrated and described hereinis by way of example only, other coupling arrangements being obviouslysuitable for this purpose, it nevertheless offers certain importantadvantages. In the first place, it is simple and inexpensive. In thesecond place, the cooperating means carried by the platform 71 neitherprojects above nor below the plane of the platform and, accordingly,there are no parts which might tend to interfere with the loading orunloading operation or which might become bent or broken. In the thirdplace, the arrangement results in the maximum continuity between thefront truck 11 and platform 71 which isv to say that the gap between thefront truck and the platform is quite narrow.

It is contemplated that for loading and unloading the platform will bedisengaged from the couplers 37 by actuation of the coupler operationmechanism previously described and the end of platform 71 remote fromrear car 11' lowered to the top of the rail 13, the platform thuspivoting slightly with respect to rear car truck 11. The play normallyoccurring in the bolster-center pin connection between deck 19 and rearcar truck 11 will generally be adequate to permit such movement as thedeflection at this point will be extremely small, although theconventional arrangementmay be modified slightly to allow this movement,if. necessary. To prevent the platform, after uncoupling, from droppingsuddenly from coupled position to the top of the tracks 13 and to enablethe platform to be raised from lowered position to coupling position,there are mounted on the sides of the platform a pair of fluid-operatedjacks 82. Each jack consists of a cylinder 83 aflixed to one of the siderails 73 and a piston 85 moving in the cylinder and having at its lowerend a shoe 87, the piston normally being urged to raised position bymeans of a spring (not shown). While each carrier may be provided withits own individual supply or source of fluid used in operating the jacks.82, ,it is preferred that the jacks be connected to the compressed airsystem conventionally employed on trains for use, in braking, etc., suchconnection being made through a conduit 89. The functioning of the jackis controlled by a four-way valve 90 of any commercially availabledesign, the position of which is governed by an operating lever, such ashandle 91. The four positions of the valve are supply, gradual exhaust,quick exhaust, and neutral, the valve being fully closed at the latterposition to maintain the piston and shoe fixed in whatever position theymay happen to occupy at the time. While the carrier is in motion, thepiston and shoe would normally occupy a raised position, as is shown inFigure 6. When the vehicle is halted and it is desired to load or unloadthe same, prior to uncoupling, the valve is moved to supply position,permitting compressed air to flow into cylinder 83, lowering piston 85and shoe 87 until the latter contacts the ground or whatever surface maybe present, whereupon the valve is moved to neutral position to maintainthe piston in its lowered position. After front truck 11 has beenuncoupled from the platform and moved down the track a short distance,the valve is turned to gradual exhaust which slowly vents the chamber,permitting the platform to descend at a gradual rate. The platform maythen be unloaded and reloaded. To raise the platform to a position wherethe cooperating means carried thereby is able to couple with thecouplers carried by the front truck 11, the valve is turned again togradual supply which slowly raises the platform to the desired positionand coupling between the front truck and platform accomplished.Thereafter the valve is moved to quick exhaust whereby the compressedair flows quickly from cylinder 83, the piston being swiftly raised bythe action of its return spring and the carrier is ready for operation.A fluid operated jack is normally preferred by reason of the readyavailability of a supply of compressed fluid; however, its mechanicalequivalent may be employed in lieu thereof if desired.

In Figure 8 there is shown a modification of the van carrier of thepresent invention which is adapted for the transportation, as a singleunit, of a duality of vans. In accordance with this alternative form, aneight-wheel car truck 101 is arranged between two platforms 103 and 103,the platform extending longitudinally in opposite directions from thetruck. The deck of the truck 101 is divided into two substantially equalareas 105a and 105b, the areas having individual bolster-center pinconnections with truck 101 in order that they may pivot about theircenter pin axes both with respect to truck 101 and to each other. Theadjacent edges of the deck areas a and b are rounded as at 107 .and 107'toavoid interference between the areas during turning movement. Theplatforms 103 and 103 may be constructed in a manner identical with thatof platform 71, being equipped with the cooperating means andfluid-operated jacks previously described, and each is adapted to becoupled to and uncoupled from a car truck 109 similar to front truck 11already referred to. It will be noted that with the modified version twovans can be easily transported with the use of one less car truck thanwould be the case if a single van carrier were merely duplicated andwith a concomitant reduction in expense of construction.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the practice of thisinvention does not require even the slightest change in the design inconstruction of highway vans as the van does not contribute anyoperative function to the device. Furthermore, maximum use has been madeof conventional railway instrumentalities, the deck and platform beingthe only part which is not conventional, and these parts are relativelysimple and inexpensive to construct. Obviously, the carrier will beparticularly easy to load and unload and these operations can beaccomplished in a minimum amount oftime since precise positioning of theplatform prior to recoupling is not required, the design of theinvention allowing for slight discrepancies in the elevation thereof.

It is to be understood that the specific embodiments of the inventionhave been described by way of illustration only and not by way oflimitation since minor variations in design and construction couldobviously be made without departure from the scope and spirit of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, that which is claimed is:

1. A rail carrier for highway vans comprising a first and second railwaycar truck having axles and wheels, a longitudinal body member forsupporting the wheels of a van having one end supported by said firsttruck at a height intermediate the top of the rails and said axles andbeing adapted to pivot downwardly with respect to said first truck,cooperating elements on the other end of said body member and saidsecond truck for coupling said second truck and other end to temporarilysupport said other end in van transporting position at substantially thesame height as said first-mentioned end, means for uncoupling said otherend and second truck to permit said body member to pivot downwardly anddrop said uncoupled end to a position at which a van may be loaded onand unloaded from said body member, said platform constituting the draftconnection between said trucks.

2. A carrier as in claim 1 wherein said body member is provided withmeans operable to elevate, said other end from van loading and unloadingposition to a height at which the coupling elements on said body memberare positioned for proper coupling with the elements on said truck.

3. A rail carrier for highway vans comprising a first and second railwaycar truck, a platform for supporting the wheels of a van, which platformis suspended above the rails from said trucks and adapted to pivotbodily with respect to one of said trucks to lower one end thereof tovan loading and unloading position, said platform being of a lengthsubstantially equal to at least the major portion of the length of a vanand constituting the draft connection between said trucks, and means fordetaching said one end of said platform from one of said trucks topermit said end to be lowered.

4. A carrier as in claim 3 including means carried by said platformoperable to elevate the detachable end thereof from said loading andunloading position to its initial unpivoted position for reattachment tosaid truck.

5. A carrier as in claim 3 wherein said detaching means comprises atleast one automatic coupler carried by said truck, cooperating meanscarried by said platform end to engage with said coupler, and means foropening said 7 coupler to permit disengagement of said cooperatingmeans. i

6. A- carrier as in claim 5 wherein said coupler is provided with anextension having an inclined surface thereon adapted to contact saidcooperating means and guide the same into proper position for engagementwith said coupler.

7. A rail carrier for highway vans comprising front, intermediate, andrear railway car trucks, a pair of platforms having adjacent endssupported above the rails from said intermediate truck, automaticcoupling means carried by said front and rear trucks, means carried bythe remote ends of said platforms engageable with said automaticcoupling means to couple said platforms and front and rear truckstogether, means operable to uncouple said platforms from said trucks,said platforms when uncoupled being adapted to respectively pivotdownwardly relative to said intermediate truck to lower the remote "endsthereof of the rails for loading and unloading,

and means on each of said platforms for raising the remote ends thereofto coupling position.

8. A carrier as in claim 7 wherein said raising means comprises at leastone jack having an element fixed to said platform, a lift elementmovable to and from an extended position with respect to said fixedelement, 26

said elements to raise and lower said platforms and return meansnormally urging said lift element to nonextended position.

9. A rail carrier for highway vans comprising first and second railwaycar trucks, a frame member connecting said trucks, having a depressedcenter portion between said trucks for supporting the wheels of a vanand end portions overlying said trucks, and a detachable connectionbetween one end of said depressed center portion and one of said endportions to permit said one end to be lowered adjacent the rails inorder that a van may be loaded thereon or unloaded therefrom.

10. A carrier as in claim 9 wherein said detachable connection comprisesautomatic coupling means carried by said end portion and cooperatingmeans on said end of said center portion adapted to engage with saidauto matic coupling means.

11. A carrier as in claim 10 including manually operated uncouplingmeans for disengaging said cooperating means and coupling means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,121,181 Bayerl June 21, 1938 2,246,543 Smith June 24, 1941 2,638,852Bannen May 19, 1953

